Do Probiotics Work?

Probiotics seem to be something you either love or hate. Some people swear by them, and others say they are a waste of money. I’ve been on both sides. But I now know, it’s not so much that they don’t work, it’s about understanding how to use them correctly. I unfortunately learnt this the hard way (my usual method of learning things!) Anyway, I’m going to write about my own personal experience with probiotics and the research I did along the way.

So, do probiotics work? Yes and no. It depends on the situation. From my own experience, they can help. But if I had been asked this question a few years ago, I would have said no, they don’t work, and they only make you worse. But I didn’t realise that this was because I was taking the wrong strains for my needs.

Probiotics can help with a variety of digestive health issues, but you need to find the right strain or strains for your individual needs. When I first tried probiotics for my digestive issues, I didn’t know much about strains. I understood that there were different strains, but I didn’t think this mattered too much. I assumed that I could just take a bunch of different and random strains that seemed popular and I’d be all good. I was a tad wrong on this assumption!

Unfortunately for me, these popular brands happened to contained a lot of high histamine-producing strains. Histamine equals inflammation. I already had a lot of inflammation in my gut, so this was like adding more fuel to the fire; and boy, did I suffer for this boo-boo! So I threw the probiotics away, cursed them and concluded that they were crap.

Many years later, and armed with more knowledge (thanks to University), I understood that I was lacking certain strains of bacteria that was causing my health issues. I suffered from chronic stress and anxiety, and after researching and reading some studies, I found there were certain strains of bacteria associated with stress and anxiety (also depression).

After a little more research, I found that these strains were mostly low histamine-producing strains. It clicked in my little head, maybe I was lacking these strains, and maybe I can find a probiotic that contains only these strains.

Eventually I did find a probiotic which contained the strains I was looking for, and none of the strains that aggravated me. So, I tried it. It was the first probiotic that I didn’t react to, and it started to help me! Not only did it help with my digestion, but it also helped reduce my anxiety levels.

By no means do I think that probiotics should be a long-term solution, I doubt they can. But, for short-term healing, using the correct strains for your needs, they can help in my experience. The only issue is finding out what strains you need.

At the end of the day, diet and healthy living should always be your first solution. You can take all the probiotics you want. But if you’re eating bad food, or under chronic stress, they won’t do much, or anything long term. You need to feed the good guys to help them grow. But for many, diet alone can’t fix the problem. And that was my issue.

My gut health went too far towards the dark side, and as much as I tried, a good diet couldn’t fix me. My main problem was that the fibres I needed to eat to repopulate my gut with good bacteria, were the very fibres that I couldn’t digest because I didn’t have enough of those good guys to help me process them. Catch 22! So taking a probiotic with the strains I was lacking has helped me to slowly (slowly is the key), reintroduce foods I had issues with and heal my gut.

When I first began this journey there weren’t many choices when it came to probiotics. There were a few strains around, and that was that. But over the years, it’s improved significantly. As more research has been done, scientists have discovered that certain strains are associated with certain diseases and chronic health issues.

There’s still a lot of research to be done, but I believe we are heading towards personalised treatments. One day we’ll be able to get a specific mixture of probiotic strains made for our own specific needs. And that will be cool!